Everyone is outside the castle, trying to comfort Yugi, who was on his knees at the door to the castle, and coax him out of the trance he was put in after Yami nearly crossed the line and killed Kaiba in order to win the duel.

"Yugi's totally out of it. He's not answering any of us." Rainbow points out.

"Well, I'm sure you can see why, he lost his only chance to rescue his grandfather." Rarity adds.

"Yugi, let us help you." Tea says. But still no answer.

"Please, Yugi?" Fluttershy asks. But, again, no answer. Inside his head, Yugi wonders what's going on with him, thinking back to when he was battling against Kaiba one minute, and the next he was battling Yami, who was willing to do anything to win the duel, and yet he still didn't know his name. Yugi knows it took everything he had to hold Yami back, but that gave Kaiba the opening to strike down the Celtic Guardian. He rationalizes that he let Kaiba win, as he had no choice because if he hadn't regained control of his body, Kaiba would've gotten himself killed. As a result of all that, he's frightened about what would happen the next time he dueled, if he can't control Yami. Therefore, he decided to never duel again. As for Yugi's friends, they're all still worried. Therefore, Joey and Rainbow step in.

"Don't worry about it, Yugi. You only lost half the chips you need. You can earn them all back." Rainbow points out.

"Or here's one better, you can take half of mine." Joey says with his hand held out.

"But, Joey. What about your sister? Her operation?" Rainbow asks.

"I'll earn the other half back, somehow." Joey answers. "Besides, I owe Yugi bigtime for him helping me get this far. Yeah, sure, Serenity needs my help, but gramps' soul is in danger now. We have to get Yugi in the castle so he can duel Pegasus to save him. So what do you say, Yugi? Let's go in and beat Pegasus. I want you to have them for your duel against Pegasus." But they get no answer as Yugi confirms to himself that he'll never duel again. The continued silence makes Joey see this as the final straw, as he grabs Yugi by the shirt collars and lifts him up. "Come on! Snap out of it! You're really starting to scare me, man! I'm trying to help you out here! Pull yourself together!" Everyone runs over to break this up, but then a familiar character comes around.

"If this is how you treat your friends, I'd hate to see how you treat your enemies." Mai says as everyone turns to see her.

"Mai Valentine. We haven't seen you since Yugi beat Panik." Twilight says.

"What's going on here?" Mai asks. "If you guys have enough star chips to get into the castle, why are you hanging out here?"

"It's Yugi. He lost half of his star chips to Kaiba and now it's like he's lost the will to keep dueling, let alone lost the will to go on." Rainbow explains.

"So the little guy finally lost one, huh?" Mai asks. "Lucky for you guys I came by." Meanwhile, inside the castle, Kaiba continues to head towards Pegasus, possibly either aware or unaware that the man he's looking for is watching him enter.

"Ahh, Kaiba boy. Shall we toast him Croquet?" Pegasus asks to a puzzled Croquet as he raises his glass. "A toast to Kaiba and his stunning upset victory over Yugi. Of course, if he thinks he can just waltz in here and rescue his poor little brother, than he overestimates his chances and underestimates my abilities. But he'll see. He'll see soon enough." Meanwhile, outside, Mai speaks her proposition.

"Okay, now listen up. Especially you, Yugi. You got beat, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the world. When I got beat by Panik, I thought it was all over for me, too. But then Yugi stepped in an saved my star chips. And now I'm returning the favor." Mai says as she holds her extra star chips out, surprising everyone.

"No way!" Tea says in disbelief.

"You said it." Rainbow concurred. "You earned five extra star chips after Yugi beat Panik to get yours back?"

"That's right, Rainbow." Mai confirmed. "Besides, I'm being kind, not stupid. I've already got the ten chips I need to get in, anyway." Mai shows off her dueling glove to prove it. "Now go on, Yugi. You know I owe you from saving me from Panik last night, so take them." But Yugi doesn't answer.

"Well, Yugi did say he'd never duel again after he lost control in his duel with Kaiba." Fluttershy explained.

"You got to be kidding. He said he'd never duel again? He lost control against Kaiba?" Mai asked in disbelief. "How?"

"Kaiba stood on the edge of the roof up there and told Yugi to attack and knock him off if he had the guts, but he couldn't risk sending Kaiba to his death, so he let him win after he lost control of what he was doing." Applejack answered.

"Well, that's a lame excuse to win a duel if I ever heard one." Mai admitted.

"Go on, Yugi, darling. Take those star chips and let's go inside and rescue your grandfather's soul." Rarity said. But Yugi still didn't answer.

"Well, if that's the attitude you want to keep, go ahead." Mai said. "I just wanted to help you out for once, but you just don't know when to grow up and accept defeat and move on."

"Please, Mai." Twilight said. "You don't understand what happened up there."

"Oh, I understand what I need to understand." Mai retorted. "Yugi lost one duel against the very guy he beat weeks ago and now he's too chicken to play another game of Duel Monsters, which is why he said he quit dueling. But talk about pathetic." This shocks everyone. "So instead of me handing them to you, duel me for them, Yugi." Yugi doesn't answer, angering Mai, but she gets a surprise, as does everyone else except for Yugi, when Tea accepts the challenge.

"I'll duel you!" Tea says aloud. "That's right. I'll accept your challenge to a duel on behalf of Yugi. He needs those star chips, and I'm going to win them for him."

"Come on, be serious. An amateur like you wouldn't stand a chance against me." Mai says, trying to get Tea to reconsider.

"Would so." Tea retorts.

"Hon, it's sweet to see you standing up for Yugi, and I'd say the same thing with either Twilight or her friends, but sweet doesn't win duels. Now I'll ask you one last time, are you sure you want to duel me?" Mai says. The boys aren't sure, and neither are the girls, about this as they only saw Tea play against Joey, a fellow beginner, and come out on top.

"I'm sure that Yugi's in good hands." Fluttershy says.

"I hope you're right, Fluttershy, because everything is riding on this one match!" Spike responds. Soon, both players are set up at a field near the base of the mountain the castle sits on.

"So what do you say, Tea? You ready?" Mai asks.

"Totally. Let's go." Tea responds. "It's time to duel!" Both players life points are set to 2000, and the match is on.

"Yugi's still lost in his own head." Bakura says as Yugi isn't even watching the action.

"Well, maybe a little duel action can snap him out of it." Tristan suggests.

"Even though he said he'd never duel again? I hope you're right." Appleajack responds. In her dueling box, Tea preps her first card.

"Alright, Mai. I'm playing the Petit Angel in attack mode." Tea says. Once the monster appears, most of the gang is surprised and flabbergasted that Tea would play such a monster, but Fluttershy gets worried as she knows Tea's deck from dueling against her plenty of times.

"Come on, Tea! Playing the Petit Angel may not be a joke, but if it is, it's not funny!" Rainbow shouts. But Fluttershy scolds her as Mai preps her first card.

"I play Harpie Lady, in attack mode!" Mai says as said monster appears. "And I'll place this, facedown." Mai moves one of her cards into the Spell and Trap Zone of her field. "Harpie Lady, attack!" Right on cue, the Harpie Lady swoops in and crushes the Petit Angel with her talon, dropping Tea's life points to 1300. "You know, Tea, if you're trembling with fear after just the first round of attacks, maybe you should quit right here."

"No way, Mai." Tea retorts as she plays her next monster. "I'm in it to win it. Go, Fairy's Gift!" Soon, said monster appears, but Mai isn't impressed.

"Another of these cutesy cards? Come on, what are we having, a duel or a Duel Monsters pageant?" Mai asks, clearly annoyed. Tea looks at her hand, and among the cards in her hand, including another Petit Angel, Silver Bow and Arrow, Shining Friendship and Magician of Faith, she spots a familiar one. A trap card called Waboku. However, though she remembers that Fluttershy used it against her before, she can't remember what it does. But she decides to put it facedown, regardless.

"This, too, facedown!" Tea says at last.

"Well, that Petit Angel was a bit of a rocky start, but I think Tea's starting to get back on track." Twilight says.

"I hope you're right, Twilight, because like Spike said, everything it riding on this duel." Rarity adds.

"Go, Fairy's Gift! Attack with Enchanted Dust!" Tea commands. However, the attack doesn't seem to effect the Harpie Lady at all, and Tea notices quickly.

"Sorry, hon, but I activated my magic card as you declared your attack." Mai says as she reveals her facedown. "The Rose Whip, a personal favorite. It gives my Harpie 300 extra attack points, more than enough to defend her from your silly pixie dust and take out your fairy, as well!" Tea knows that since her attack didn't work, she'll have to hope for the best. "Now, my Harpie Lady, Whiplash Attack!" With one smack and crack of the Rose Whip, Fairy's Gift is destroyed and Tea's life points drop to 1100. "How about that? Your fairy turned to dust!"

"Clever move." Bakura says. "Mai tricked Tea into attacking by making her think her fairy had the most points. But what Mai didn't reveal until after Tea attacked was that she had a magic card waiting to power up her Harpie Lady. Another mistake like that, and it's all over."

"If you had any idea what you're really up against, Tea, you'd call it quits right now." Mai says. "This isn't going to get easier, you know. Just give up and go back to cheerleading."

"No. I'm not going to let Yugi down, Mai." Tea retorts.

"Please. If this is the start of some friendship rant, just save it." Mai responds, thinking Tea was going to start talking friendship again. "I've heard all your lame speeches before, and from that look on Yugi's face, I'd say he has, too."

"Take that back!" Fluttershy shouts.

"Come on, admit it!" Mai retorts. "You and everyone else can see how scared Tea is. She's just a little girl who's accidentally stumbled into the big leagues. But whatever. She'll learn the hard way." Harpie looks at her hand and spots a familiar card, called Harpie's Feather Duster. "My turn, hon, and I'm playing this, facedown." She proceeds to set her Feather Duster down. Tea knows that every time Mai plays her cards facedown, it's hard for her to know what to play next. She then look at her Shining Friendship monster she just drew, making her think of all of her friends, as well as Twilight and her friends because Fluttershy has the same card in her deck. Tea starts wishing her monster was as strong as the friendship bond she and her friends as well as Twilight and her friends share, then it would be able to beat anything as it would have Joey's and Applejack's courage, Twilight's brains, Spike's will, Tristan's and Rainbow's spirit, Pinkie's joy, and both Yugi's and Fluttershy's heart. While everyone cheers her on, Tea looks at Yugi.

"Yugi. Are you with me?" Tea asks, causing Yugi to lift his head, but not really snap him back to reality. Tea then starts to think that maybe her monster is as strong as their friendship, and knows there's really only one way to find out. "Shining Friendship in attack mode!" Said monster soon appears, by Mai is still not impressed.

"You kept me waiting all this time for that little butterball?" Mai asks, clearly not amused. "Fine, then! Harpie Lady! Whiplash Attack!" The Harpie charges in with Rose Whip in hand.

"Not so fast, Mai." Tea suddenly says as she reveals her facedown Waboku, and she finally remembers how it works. "I placed a trap, so I'm activating Waboku!" Mai repeats the name of the card in puzzlement. "That's right, and Waboku not only saves my monster, but it reduces the attack points of my opponent's creatures to zero, so my Shining Friendship gets to stick around another turn."

"I think Fluttershy taught Tea that move." Joey says.

"Yeah, and Tea must've really took it to heart and waited for the right moment to play it seeing as Fluttershy knows how to use it." Tristan adds.

"You're right. I did teach her that, and I'm glad she's using it." Fluttershy admits.

"You're right, Mai, maybe I am scared about dueling you up here for such incredibly high stakes, but my monster reminded me of something that's helped me face that fear." Tea says. "My friends, and I know with all of them backing me up, I will win! It's like the name of the card says: Shining Friendship. No matter how dark or grim things may get, the special bond that I share with my friends, and that Twilight shares with her friends, will always find a way to shine through. I may be scared, but that fear won't keep me from dueling, or from helping Yugi, or from winning this duel!"

"Yugi, is any of this stuff getting through to you?" Joey ask.

"Don't you see? Tea's putting herself on the line for you." Rainbow adds.

"Even though she's frightened, she still battles on." Bakura adds.

"It's quite inspiring, really." put in Rarity.

"Nice speech, Tea. In fact, it was so stirring, Applejack nearly threw her hat in the air." Mai says, jokingly.

"Can the jokes!" Tea snaps. "I've had enough of your insults!" Tea then looks at her Magician of Faith and decides to play it. "I'm playing this in defense mode, and that's not all! I'm playing the Silver Bow and Arrow card, which raises my creature's power 300 points!" Right on cue, Shining Friendship's attack strength increases to 1600.

"Fine with me." Mai says. "It's not like I don't have magic cards, too. Cyber Shield!" Mai proceeds to play said card as she speaks. "Tell me what you think about this makeover." Piece by piece, the Cyber Shield armor parts appear on the Harpie Lady. "Now Harpie Lady's attack power is 500 points stronger. But wait, I'll also play this De-Spell card. Sorry, Cupid, you've been de-accessorized." As Harpie speaks, the De-Spell card causes the Silver Bow and Arrow to disappear and also causes Shining Friendship's attack power to drop to its original value of 1300.

"This is not good." Spike says. "Tea, I think you should hold on because this might get rough!" Even Yugi starts to notice a bit.

"And I think I'll start by attacking your facedown monster to demolish any hope of winning you have left." Mai says. The Harpie Lady unleashes the Whiplash Attack, destroying the Magician of Faith. "There! No more hope! No more faith! No more chances! But I'm surprised you don't know the rules yet, Tea. Since I flipped over your Magician of Faith to attack it, you get a magic card back from the graveyard." Tea does so. "I mean, how can you expect to beat me when you don't know how effect cards work? Look, honey, I'm sure everyone's impressed that you've lasted this long, but all you're doing is delaying the inevitable."

"I won't give up!" Tea retorts. Yugi then sorta snaps out of his trance.

"Come on, what you're doing is pointless. Yugi's already given up on himself." Mai says. "You're not going to be able to keep fighting for him. He has to fight for himself. He has to stand up to anyone who dares to get in his way. And whatever's going on in his head, Tea, Yugi has to deal with it on his own." Yugi starts to wonder if Mai's right, wonder if fighting harder is the answer. Yugi ponders if he gave up too easily, but wonders what one should do if the thing they're fighting against is some kind of magical spirit from Egypt that can take control of your body and is living inside you. "Face it, Tea, Yugi's checked out. He's given up, he doesn't care about this match and he doesn't care about you. Nothing's worth the humiliation you're going through."

"You're wrong!" Tea snaps. "My friends are worth it! Always! I don't care how much experience you have playing Duel Monsters, I don't care what the odds are against beating you, I won't give up. Not on this match, and not on Yugi either. I won't give up. I won't." Tears start falling from Tea's eyes as she speaks. As everyone looks at Tea crying, Yugi finally snaps out of his trance and says his friend's name. "Don't let these tears fool you, Mai. I may be crying, but I've never felt stronger. So you better get those five star chips ready, because I'm about to beat you! And there's not a thing you can say or do that'll stop me."

"You may have a tendency to run at the mouth, but you've got a lot of spunk." Mai responds. "Give me your best shot." As Mai speaks, Tea looks at one of her cards, called Elf's Light. Tea knows it could boost her Shining Friendship's power, and she also finds that she has a De-Spell card of her own, rationalizing that she could use it to get rid of Mai's Cyber Shield. Plus, she decides to use the Silver Bow and Arrow magic card she got from the graveyard per the effect of the Magician of Faith in tandem with her Elf's Light card, increasing her monster's attack power to 2000. Hoping it'll be enough, Tea puts her strategy into action.

"First, I'm playing the Silver Bow and Arrow I retrieved from the graveyard." Tea says as her monster's attack power increases to 1600. "Next, I'll use Elf's Light to power him up even further!" With the magic of Elf's Light, Shining Friendship not only gains more power, but also changes form. "Now Shining Friendship is 2000 attack points strong!"

"That's still not enough." Mai says. "Harpie, attack!" But as the Harpie Lady charges in, Tea activates the third part of her game plan.

"Yes, it is." Tea says, shocking Mai. "Or does the magic of De-Spell not apply to you, Mai?" Mai is taken aback as her Cyber Shield card is destroyed, lowering her Harpie Lady's attack power to 1600. Even all of her friends are shocked by Tea's excellent playing. "Attack, Shining Frienship, with Silver Lightning Arrow!" With one shot, the Harpie Lady is destroyed, though Mai thinks about playing her facedown Feather Duster, however, she doesn't and takes the 400 point loss. "Bull's-Eye for friendship!"

"What a shot!" Rainbow says in amazement.

"Looks like Tea's doing as good a job against Mai as you did, Joey!" Pinkie says with a smile. Mai looks at her Harpie's Feather Duster, considers playing it, while Yugi wonders if Mai will play a Harpie's Feather Duster card, seeing as she has a deck built around harpies. But then, the most bizarre thing happens.

"I surrender, Tea. I don't have the cards to win." Mai says, this surprises everyone.

"Giving up just like that?" Tea asks.

"Didn't see that one coming." Applejack says.

"Don't rub it in, Tea. Harpie Lady was the best monster I had, and seeing as how you beat her, there's really no point in me going on with this duel." Mai answers as both players return to the ground.

"Nice work, Tea. You really came through for Yugi." Twilight says.

"Whatever, I didn't need these anyway." Mai says as she gives Tea the five star chips.

"Wait, Mai. I have to ask you something." Yugi says. "Wasn't that last facedown..."

"A throwaway." Mai answers before Yugi could finish his sentence. "It was nothing that Tea wouldn't have been able to beat anyway, really. Some cards just aren't worth playing, huh, Yugi?"

"Thank you." Yugi says softly.

"Yugi?" Tea asks. "These star chips I won are for you." Tea hands Yugi the stars.

"I know." Yugi answers. "Thank you so much."

"Sure thing." Tea replies.

"I'll never forget what you did for me, Tea." Yugi says. "You overcame your fears to help me." And Yugi knows that she also gave him the courage to deal with his about Yami, deciding that he will duel again, and hopes that the consequences won't be as bad as he fears.

"So take them already, you're making the girl blush!" Spike says, gently elbowing Yugi.

"Thanks. You're the best." Yugi says to Tea as he takes the star chips.

"Welcome back, Yugi." Twilight says with a smile.

"Your silent treatment really had us worried, pal." Rainbow adds.

"Hey, you slowpokes!" Mai shouts from the stairs to the castle. "Last one to the castle door is a rotten egg!" This baffles everyone, but Yugi rolls with it.

"Let's go!" Yugi shouts enthusiastically. Rainbow concurs as everyone races to and up the stairs, ready to finish their rescue mission once and for all.

Author's Note

I originally wanted Fluttershy to take up the duel, but she doesn't have the right cards when a friend of mine built her deck.